Boiling
by TeamChaosPrez
Summary: Some claimed to have had their lines ripped away so violently that they could feel themselves being forced into the water. Others stated that the waves would suddenly pick up as though something under the waves was moving about. And yet others claimed to have heard an inexplicable roaring noise coming from below, one that they could be described as an angry and desperate scream.


Boiling

A Steven Universe One-Shot

_A/N: This was not an initial part of the bootcamp I have planned, but this idea popped into my head after reading multiple other fanfictions and I'm in a writing mood so here you go. I suppose this takes place after Malachite had been fused for, say, six months. Takes place after "Full Disclosure." Written April 17th, 2015, before any possible progress with the Lapis arc could be made._

As the weeks and months passed by, legends grew among fishermen, as they tended to. Some claimed to have had their lines ripped away so violently that they could feel themselves being forced into the water. Others stated that the waves would suddenly pick up as though something under the waves was moving about. And yet others claimed to have heard an inexplicable roaring noise coming from below, one that they could be described as an angry and desperate scream.

Rumor had it that a group of three strong women and a child knew the answer to the question of what on Earth was down there, but nobody could ever get an answer out of them. Occasionally the boy would appear sad when he said that he didn't know; however, even he was stubborn enough to never give positive feedback.

One day, however, one brave scientist decided to throw a camera down near where the fishermen had claimed time and time again to have noticed something different about the sea. As men in white coats watched carefully, the feed on the screen slowly drifted down to the unexplored bottom, settling itself in the sand. The light at the front of the camera clicked on to show the feed of something strange, something none of them had expected.

Bubbles.

As though something at the bottom was boiling the water around it, superheating it to the point that something could be cooked in the uncontrollable salt water. The men of science were so transfixed on this that they didn't notice a small boy sneak in towards the back of their room, his dark eyes fixated on the feed on the screen, waiting to see any sign of someone he'd missed very much since her disappearance.

There were then the sounds of rumbling footsteps over the speakers, traveling well through the water and to the audio capture systems of the camera. A large shape appeared in the darkened video, and the breath was taken out of every man in the room. Their uninvited guest seemed particularly excited to see this shape, perking up visibly and standing on his tip toes to see better.

Whatever it was seemed to have four arms and two feet – or was it six feet and no arms, or two arms and four feet? Either way, the amount of limbs was unnatural – and it was massive. A rumbling growl left it, and one of the hands reached and grabbed the underwater camera, lifting it.

The observers could clearly see the outline of a massive and distorted woman. Four green eyes settled on the lens of the camera it was holding before the hand closed around it. _Crrrrrunch. _And then silence. It had destroyed the device.

At last, someone noticed the extra viewer, but before he could say a quick "Hey, kid!," the boy had fled, off to tell his guardians of what he had just witnessed. Normally, this would concern any of the scientists in the room – leaked information not meant for the public could be disastrous in the very best of scenarios – but they were too hypnotized by what they had just seen with their very eyes, too overcome by the fear of what was below and the excitement of finding something new.

As for the one captured on-camera, however, she was less than thrilled.

Could she even be referred to as a she? She was two different people, after all, at war in the same body, in a constant struggle with the larger of the components trying to break free and the powerful one in a neverending effort to keep her enemy attached to her and away from her 'beach summer fun buddy.'

She – no, they – had never intended to be seen, had never intended for the humans to know of their whereabouts. They did not _want _any help. Each of them wanted to overcome her opposition, beat her into submission until only one superior gem remained.

Lapis Lazuli wanted to protect. Jasper wanted nothing but to harm.

However, it was slowly shifting away from a struggle for these two things and just melting into a _desperation. _Both of them wanted to be free, but one of them had realized that freedom was just a far off dream now, something that could never be achieved.

Lapis had learned to endure the threats and the insults that Jasper constantly threw her way, just began rolling with the blows like the waves she had become one with.

_The camera caught us._

_ We don't know that for sure._

_ It was looking right at us._

This was the first time the two components had spoken without bitterness arguing since, well, since ever.

_Why does it matter? If they come down, I can just destroy them._

_ I thought you wanted to protect this planet._

_ I want to protect Steven._

_ And what if Steven comes down looking for us in that silly little bubble of his?_

_ Then I'll tell him to go away._

_ And if he frees us?_

_ I'll destroy __you._

That shut Jasper up rather quickly, and they settled back into the sand at the bottom of the ocean, a bored and tired expression finding its way onto their face again.

Lapis could tell that her enemy was about to say something else to her, so she closed the bottom green eyes, the ones that belonged to her. A kind of serenity and balance settled itself into her emotions; at least she could find calm, something that had long escaped her.

She blocked out the other side of the mind she now shared, and a sweet silence enveloped her. She now had just enough attached to Jasper to keep Malachite formed, but just enough detached for her to have some peace for once.

Her own thoughts were slowing now, and she could feel herself getting drowsy. Her breathing evened into slow intakes of air that were released patiently. Memories of loneliness and pain washed over her, but in a way they helped her relax further, reminding her of a simpler time. She had still been trapped then, but it had been before the hurt that returning home to the twisted version of the world that she had once known.

Before she knew it, Lapis had fallen into a deep slumber, leaving Jasper alone and immobile in the darkness and allowing the memories that made up her dreams to take over in place of her thoughts.

However, one final coherent thought passed through her mind.

_I want to go home._


End file.
